David and Jonathan, Achilles and Patroclus, Alexander and Hephaestion

      David and Jonathan,

   Achilles and Patroclus,

Alexander and Hephaestion

Modern poetry  modern verse  contemporary poetry  contemporary verse

   Hephaestion, lover of Alexander the Great

We heroize male anger, all the way

From David’s chopped Goliath to the wrath

Of pettish Prince Achilles.  Poets bray

These killing wonders as they hew a path

Of blood and foreskins, broken heads and necks,

Five little pebbles fetched up from a brook,

Or battle swords and spears, men’s thrusting sex

With war-time trophies:  girls god forsook

And dished out to the victors for their rape

And spawn.  King Alexander is the worst,

The zenith of the worship of the shape

We praise.  Esthetic consciences are cursed.

  These heroes always have their lovers by

    Their sides.  The moral?  Even love is sly.

by phillipw | Jul 6, 2020 | AC, DA, GA, HE, Ho, MA | 0 comments